The Anglican Cathedral of Second Life

Gallicantu means ‘cock-crow’ in Latin and is the name given to a church in Jerusalem built over the traditional site of Caiaphas’ palace. Caiaphas was high priest when Jesus was arrested and crucified. It is here that Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed in the morning.

The reflection that follows was given in the 2pm SLT service in the Cathedral on Tuesday. The readings were Psalm 9 and Luke 22:31-38.

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On Tuesday at the 2pm service we remembered Mary Magdalene, a woman whose life was completely changed as a result of meeting Jesus. As a result, she joined with other women who had been healed by Jesus, in supporting his ministry from her private means. More shocking perhaps, she travelled with him, listening to him, learning from him. When Jesus’ earthly life ended in agony on the cross, Mary was one of those who did not abandon him, but stayed faithful to the end. As a result of her great love and dedication Mary became the Apostle to the Apostles. It was unthinkable at that time that a woman should be trusted to give testimony, but Jesus had a habit of challenging cultural norms.

The readings were  those for the first Evening Prayer of Mary Magdelene: Psalm 139, Isaiah 25:1-9, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. The sermon follows.

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Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd and references to people being sheep are scattered through the Gospels and elsewhere in the Bible, perhaps most famously in Psalm 23. We might think of sheep as silly creatures but they have enough sense to follow their shepherd and so keep safe. It is plain that Jesus came with a message for all and died for all, with the aim of gathering us all in one flock. As humans, we have an uncanny ability to divide ourselves into many flocks. By centring our lives on Jesus, instead of seeking to determine who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ of a group, we are working towards fulfilling Jesus’ prayer for us: ‘that they may be one’.

The sermon which follows was preached at the noon service on Sunday. The readings were Psalm 23, Ephesians 2:11-end, Mark 6:30-34, 53-end.

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This Sunday I have been a guest on BBC Radio speaking on the role of Christianity in the digital age. In a lively discussion, I was joined by Andrew Graystone, who  is Director of the Church and Media Network, Sara Speicher of WACC, and the Rev’d Keith Kimber, a Blogger and regular contributor to the programme.

The programme is on BBC i-player (for those who can access it): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lr465/All_Things_Considered_19_07_2009/

It will also be available as a podcast:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/atc/

At the service in the Cathedral yesterday the Gospel passage contained the parable of the tenants in the vineyard. Despite realising that Jesus told this parable against them, the scribes and chief priests were not deflected from wanting to do away with Jesus. Had then not been afraid of public opinion, they would no doubt have had him arrested as soon as he told the parable, but they would have faced a riot as the ordinary people supported Jesus.

I had to consider if I am any better than the scribes and the chief priests. I know what God says, I know it’s directed at me, but there are plenty of times when I don’t want to hear what he is saying. I want to cover my ears and drown out his voice. Maybe you can recognise this tendency in yourself at times too.

The readings were Psalm 116 and Luke 20:9-19.

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At 2pm SLT yesterday the normal worship service in the Cathedral had two congregations. I didn’t get a chance to count how many were in the Cathedral but it must have been around 20. The other congregation of about 25 was sitting in the Leech Hall of St John’s College, Durham and saw the service projected onto a screen. This congregation comprised delegates to the Christianity in the Digital Space symposium. As service leader I acted as a bridge of sorts between the two groups.

All sorts of technical issues had conspired to try to prevent this event taking place but with a lot of co-operation from many people both in-world and in Durham, those difficulties were overcome and all was well. Being a little more wired up than I would normally be in order for those in the room to hear, and being observed while I led, was a little nerve wracking I admit. I had plenty of time to regret volunteering to lead from the symposium. I think the effort was worth it though. There were plenty of comments and questions from those here in Durham. Apologies go to those in-world if that resulted in a lack of conversation with you! I can multi-task but perhaps not well enough.

The readings were part of Psalm 107 and Luke 19:41-end. Cephus from the USA and Patapon from New Zealand read which added to the international flavour of the service. The reflection follows:

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The Christianity in the Digital Space Symposium that we blogged about last week is underway!  And if you are unable to be there in person, you can watch it via streaming media from your desktop.  The sessions are also being recorded for future viewing (check the symposium blog at http://digitalsymp.blogspot.com for updates on this).

Don’t forget, the symposium participants will be taking part in our regular Tuesday worship service (at 2pm SLT) on July 14.  The service will be led by Helene Milena, who (along with Mark Brown) is participating in the symposium in RL.  We hope that many of our community members will be able to attend, and extend a welcome to our visitors!

One of the charges we received from the SL Anglican community in our recent survey was to more clearly define the vision and purpose of our group.  This is a matter that we in the Leadership Team have carefully discussed and prayed about.  The result of this is a revised vision statement which is now posted on our site under the menu item titled “Our Vision.”  We welcome your comments and feedback on this.

As many of you aware, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC) is currently underway.  Our friends at the Anglican Ecumenical Society (AES) are currently hosting prayer sessions for the General Convention, as well as for TEC, the Anglican Communion, and for the body of Christ.

The Anglican Cathedral in Second Life will be joining in this effort by holding a time of prayer for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and for all Christian people throughout the world, that we may grow in love and understanding for one another and follow God’s ways.

We invite you to join us at the Cathedral on Saturday, July 11 for this event, starting at 11am SLT.  On each quarter hour, as announced by the cathedral bell, a section of Psalm 119 will be read and then the rest of that 15 minutes will be available for typed or private prayer from those present.

This is a time of deep divisions in the life of our church, and our goal here is to promote healing and unity amongst all Christians.  Our friends in the AES have posted some excellent guidelines for prayer on this matter, which they summarize below:

“The purpose here is to pray for God’s Will to be done. We hope that liberals and conservatives alike will come to pray. For the sake of preserving an atmosphere of peace, we hope that prayers posted will not presume or ask for any particular outcome, nor preach on any hot-button issue. Let’s bathe the General Convention in prayer, draw close to Him as we might and trust God for truth, clarity, and courage to face the future. We hope these guidelines are clear enough.”

Anyone who has voice and wishes to read a section of the psalm is welcome to contact Helene Milena, either before the service, or by IM at the time of the service.  If you read, go to the lectern just before the quarter hour and begin reading once the Cathedral bell has rung. The text will be posted automatically but it will be easier if you simply read from the notecard. Please leave time for responses.

At 1pm we will begin a short worship service.

It’s right to pray and bring our needs before God. Sometimes in the process of praying for something over a period of time our prayer request is modified. It may be that God is giving us time to think carefully what we want him to do for us.

Jesus asked the blind beggar outside Jericho: ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ This gave the beggar time to think and to make his request more specific than his original call: ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ The readings were Psalm 94 and Luke 18:31-end.

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